Kazakh Envoy To U.S. Demands Investigation Of Kazakh's Killing

WASHINGTON/ASTANA -- The Kazakh Embassy in the United States has demanded a thorough investigation into the killing by police in Virginia last week of Kazakh citizen Kirill Denyakin, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Asqar Abdrakhmanov told RFE/RL that Kazakh Ambassador Yerlan Idrisov has expressed his concern to the U.S. State Department and urged it to help ensure the April 23 accidental shooting in the town of Portsmouth is thoroughly investigated.

Idrisov also expressed the hope that the victim's relatives will receive appropriate compensation.

In a statement about the incident issued April 24, Portsmouth police said an officer responding to a call about a burglary saw a man banging on the door to an apartment. Police said the officer opened fire when the man lunged toward him.

Denyakin, 26, had been working as a cook in the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth for the last two years.

Abdrakhmanov added that the Kazakh Embassy in Washington is currently helping Denyakin's mother, who arrived in Washington on April 27, to arrange the transportation of her son's body to Kazakhstan.